Clint Hurdle confirmed this afternoon what recent pitching performances had already spelled out.
Right-hander Huston Street, the closer coming out of spring training, who lost his job, is now the closer again.

Manuel Corpas is out.

“It’s another month, so I want to change closers once a month,” Hurdle said with a smile. “It’s May 1, so I think it’s appropriate. Just kidding. Huston has made progress, Manny has not.”

Street, at least for the moment, looks like the best man for the job after striking out Padres in the ninth inning on 15 pitches in Colorado’s 7-5 victory on Wednesday.

Street is 2-for-2 in save opportunities and five of his last six outings have been scoreless. But his 6.10 ERA and the two-run, ninth-inning homer he served up to the Phillies on April 12 shows that he’s been far from dominating.

Street supplants Corpas, whose inability to keep the ball low in the zone, plus his failure to recapture the command that made him a keystone of the Rockies’ run to the World Series, have relegated him to a middle-innings guy.

“It’s not the eighth inning,” Hurdle said of Corpas’ role. “He’s not pitching well enough to be the eighth inning guy right now. We’re going to try to get him more right-handers than left-handers. We’re going to try to maybe go double innings with him from time to time for like a volume of pitches, kind of the way we brought him up, and see where that takes us. But there’s got to be better consistency and there’s got to be better location for him to stay and contribute here.”

Hurdle said he will mix and match his set-up men, using Alan Embree and Jason Grilli.

“I’m looking at Embree and I’m looking at Grilli,” Hurdle said. “I think we’ll look definitely at Alan, because of the experience factor and the fact he can go through right-handers and left-handers. And if there’s an opportunity where match-ups might be better, then maybe Jason would get that opportunity to pitch in front of him.”

If they play tonight’s game – and that’s looking more doubtful by the minute – Matt Murton will make his first start in a Rockies uniform. He’ll bat second and play left field, Hurdle figuring that the right-handed Murton would stand a better chance against Giants giant lefty Randy Johnson.

Brad Hawpe is not in the lineup. He’s recovered from his bruised neck, but Hurdle didn’t want him facing Johnson. Wise move, considering Hawpe is 0-for-9 against Johnson.

LAS VEGAS — Even if you didn’t know who Greg Maddux was today, you knew he was somebody. As he walked toward his retirement press conference, a beleaguered gambler at the Bellagio blurted, “the parade just went by.”

Maddux left baseball on his terms. No tears, just thank-yous and recollections.

“It’s hard to walk away, but it’s time. I still think I could play the game, but not as well as I would have liked to,” Maddux said from the dais before a room full of reporters.

To watch Maddux was to witness genius. He’s arguably the greatest living pitcher, as a reporter from the New York Times suggested.

“It’s a great compliment. But I just don’t think of myself that way,” Maddux said.

He finished with 355 victories, four Cy Young awards and a record 18 Rawlings Gold Gloves. Known as a professor, Maddux is famous for outthinking hitters. In a sport that often embraces flame-throwers, the right-hander perfected the art of movement and location on his pitches.

Former Rockies’ star Dante Bichette always said of Maddux, “He’s the most comfortable 0-for-4 in baseball history.” Hitters often left befuddled, grounding out or popping up early in the count on cut-fastballs or evil changeups. Maddux finished his career in the National League West with the Padres and Dodgers. He was never a fan of Coors Field, and in fact, in his second to last start there last season did some damage in the visiting clubhouse after a poor outing.

It was an abberation given his excellence.

Over the last 22 seasons, Maddux received 796 Cy Young votes. Randy Johnson is second at 682, according to information provided by agent Scott Boras. Maddux, who lives with his family in Las Vegas, said he plans to take a year off and will then consider re-entering the game as a coach.

“I am going to miss everything about the game. The game has given me so much. I just hope that I gave back,” Maddux said. “I played the game the way I wanted my teammates to play it.”

The big 3-0. It might as well come with a cake and a blowtorch of candles. It’s a manager’s gift to a player when he gives him the green light on three balls and no strikes. It doesn’t happen often, usually reserved for superstars or big sluggers. Read more…

Reliever Luis Vizcaino’s recovery from elbow tightness accelerated today. After playing catch Friday, he threw a bullpen session this morning. Vizcaino figured he was only going to play long toss today, so this is good news. If he has no setbacks tomorrow, Vizcaino should return to a game in a few days. Read more…

Dugout chatter
â€œWhen heâ€™s effective, he repeats his delivery, he throws strikes, he works quick and gets ahead of the count. The gameâ€™s he didnâ€™t pitch well (in spring training), he didnâ€™t have command, the ball was up in the zone and he didnâ€™t have any command of his secondary pitches.â€?
— Manager Clint Hurdle on rookie Jason Hirsh, who makes his Rockies debut tonight.

Number of note: Padres starter Greg Maddux has 12 career wins against the Rockies. Just two pitchers have more â€“ Randy Johnson with 14, and Jason Schmidt with 13.

Patrick, a third-generation Colorado native, is back for his second stint covering the Rockies. He first covered the team from 2005-2009, helping chronicle “Rocktober” in 2007 and also following the team’s playoff run in 2009.

Nick Groke has worked at The Denver Post since 1997, as a sports reporter, city reporter, entertainment writer and digital editor and producer, among other newsroom posts. He also writes regularly about boxing, soccer, MMA and NASCAR.